The Queen Still Lives
by KarenTheQuietOne
Summary: To Hayakawa Shizue, life just wasn't the same without volleyball. After leaving behind the life on the volleyball court due to rumors surrounding her, Shizue decided not to mope about it and decided to get a job. Little did she know, the little sakanoshita store will provide more than just a job, it'll probably provide a path back to the courts.
1. Rumor Has It

****** Disclaimer: I do not own Haikyuu!, however, I do own my oc.******

It was a sunny day in Osaka, and many people were out and about. Especially the young students, who were bunched into groups.

"Hey, have you heard?" one of the students had turned to his friend and waited for a reply.

"What? Is this about you-know-who? 'Cause if it is, I don't want to hear it." she quickly walked ahead so she wouldn't have to listen.

"W-what?! No! Don't bring her up!" flustered, the boy quickly caught up to his friend and glared at her.

"Then spit it out already!"

"Remember Hayakawa Shizue? The girl who plays volleyball?" he asked.

"Hayakawa-san? The volleyball queen from junior high?" she asked, and got a nod back.

"Yep, apparently she was kicked out of her high school due to the injuries she keeps getting." the girl looked up quickly, her face in shock.

"From volleyball?" she asked, but he shook his head.

"Rumor has it that she started getting involved with delinquents. That then led her to fighting many people outside of school. She comes to school every day covered in bandages and patches. Everyone started to come out saying that she had encountered them and beat them up for their valuables. I'm not sure how much of that is true, but she most certainly different from her junior high days." he ended the conversation there when they entered a corner store.

Not far behind them was a girl wearing a sweater despite the weather being warm. She stopped walking when the group of students had entered the store. She looked at them through the window and her face had went from neutral to anger. Her brows knitted together as she suddenly turned and stormed down the sidewalk.

'I'm a delinquent?! Why I oughta show them what a delinquent looks like!' At this rate, she basically gave everyone the stink eye when they passed her.

'But I can't do that, it'll only add on to the rumors about me. Ugh! Why did someone have to spread lies around school! Because of them, I have no choice but to leave to another school. But there is no other school here in Osaka that will accept me with my grades.' She slowed down to a normal pace of walk and pulled out her cellphone.

'Looks like I'm going home earlier than expected. Hope Mom isn't too mad that I chose to leave Kaizuka High.' She scrolled down her contacts until she found the one she was looking for.

"Hello? Shi-chan, what's wrong?"

"Hey Mom... looks like I'm coming home soon."

**Next time on "The Queen** **Still Lives":**

**"It looks like I need some help around the store." he said will taping the 'HELP WANTED' sign onto the door.**


	2. HELP WANTED'

Ting~

The sound of the bell rang throughout the store, signaling the clerk that a customer had entered. Sitting behind the counter with his legs stretched out on top of the counter was a man in his 20's, reading the daily newspaper. He had blonde dyed hair with a black head band pulling his hair back.

"Welcome to the Sakanoshita store." he replied in a lazy voice. He glanced at the door and saw an old lady who came regularly to the store.

"Hello Kei-chan." she greeted him. "How are you doing today? I just came to pick out some vegetables for dinner tonight. Do you want to join us?"

"Thanks for the offer, but I can't tonight. I'm going to keep the store open later than usual today. Sorry 'baa-san." Ukai replied while scratching the back of his head.

"That's alright, but next time I won't take no as an answer. I'll cook up something special for you. Okay?" The older woman then reached up to pinch his cheek.

"Hey now 'baa-san. I'm not a child anymore, you don't have to pinch my cheeks every time you visit. Now go do what you came here to do." He got up and lightly pushed her hand away and nudged her towards the produce in the back.

He went back and sat behind the counter and resumed slouching in his chair with his legs crossed on the counter.

Ting~

"Mommy~ can I get candy? Please~." A child's voice came from the front door. A young mother and her son had just walked in. Ukai knew that he was not going to like what will happen soon. He didn't enjoy having children whine and make noise in his store. The same goes for noisy customers.

"Hey kid. Keep it down would ya?" At that moment, the boy started to whine in a higher voice.

'Of course! He just decided to screech out of nowhere.' Ukai quickly grabbed some candy from behind the counter and basically threw it at the kid.

"Here! Now shut your mouth and listen to your mom." The boy stopped screaming the second the candy hit his face. A smile then appeared onto his face and he quickly ran to his mother's side.

'Finally! Some peace and quiet.' at this time he already in his natural habitat behind the counter. However, the second he pulled out his news paper, a group of people walked in.

'When will this day end!' Ukai could already tell that this was going to be a long day for him.

**Time Skip**

The day finally ended as the last customer walked out the door. Ukai walked over behind the counter and collapsed onto the chair. His head nestled in his arms as he heaved out of long and tired sigh.

Customer after customer entered into the store and it was just too much to handle by himself that he had to call Shimada on his break. The bell just kept ringing all. day. long.

He just realized that in the past month, his store has been receiving more customers everyday. At this rate, he's going to have to hire an extra pair of hands. He eyed the drawer containing the dreaded 'HELP WANTED' sign.

The pros and cons of hiring a new employee is the time training them and the many mistakes they make. Sure, they can help greatly on a busy day, but what if they're not a good employee? Like being rude to customers and not doing their job while he was away. It's a lot to think about.

A few minutes passed and he finally made his decision. He opened the drawer and took out the sign. He walked outside the store and faced the door. "It looks like I'm going to need help around here." he said will taping the 'HELP WANTED' sign onto the door.

**Next time on "The Queen Still Lives":**

**"Um...I left school because of volleyball."**


End file.
